The Horn of Winter was never made to make the wall fall...

[Lady Fishbiscuit]

25 minutes ago, velo-knight said:

The talk of earthquakes have me wondering about the Wall again. I know we just have to suspend our disbelief on the possibility of a 700 foot ice wall, but how would such a structure handle even mild seismic events? I feel like an ice partially-ice structure would do very poorly even in a mild earthquake, and given the size of the Wall, you'd really think some part of it would've been exposed to an earthquake already.

I think it's held together with magic at the moment and that's about to change somehow.

[Clegane'sPup]

15 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

I also think the horn Jon found at the Fist is the Horn of WInter/Joramun.

It was made of bronze and horn and covered in runes, but the bronze is cracked so it doesn't make a sound when Jon tries it.

I dun’t know Leech, seems that the description of the horn Jon found is a bit different. There doesn’t seem to be any mention of runes on the war horn Jon found. The one Mance had, the one Mel burned had rune markings.

 

A Clash of Kings Jon IV       A length of frayed rope bound the bundle together. Jon unsheathed his dagger and cut it, groped for the edges of the cloth, and pulled. The bundle turned, and its contents spilled out onto the ground, glittering dark and bright. He saw a dozen knives, leaf-shaped spearheads, numerous arrowheads. Jon picked up a dagger blade, featherlight and shiny black, hiltless. Torchlight ran along its edge, a thin orange line that spoke of razor sharpness. Dragonglass. What the maesters call obsidian. Had Ghost uncovered some ancient cache of the children of the forest, buried here for thousands of years? The Fist of the First Men was an old place, only . . .

Beneath the dragonglass was an old warhorn, made from an auroch's horn and banded in bronze. Jon shook the dirt from inside it, and a stream of arrowheads fell out. He let them fall, and pulled up a corner of the cloth the weapons had been wrapped in, rubbing it between his fingers. Good wool, thick, a double weave, damp but not rotted. It could not have been long in the ground. And it was dark. He seized a handful and pulled it close to the torch. Not dark. Black. Even before Jon stood and shook it out, he knew what he had: the black cloak of a Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch.

 

A Clash of Kings - Jon V      It must have been buried for a reason. He had made a dagger for Grenn as well, and another for the Lord Commander. The warhorn he had given to Sam. On closer examination the horn had proved cracked, and even after he had cleaned all the dirt out, Jon had been unable to get any sound from it. The rim was chipped as well, but Sam liked old things, even worthless old things. "Make a drinking horn out of it," Jon told him, "and every time you take a drink you'll remember how you ranged beyond the Wall, all the way to the Fist of the First Men." He gave Sam a spearhead and a dozen arrowheads as well, and passed the rest out among his other friends for luck.

 

A Storm of Swords - Jon VI   Mance never found the horn, though, that's something. The Horn of Winter, that's what he was digging for up along the Milkwater."     Maester Aemon paused, washcloth in hand. "The Horn of Winter is an ancient legend. Does the King-beyond-the-Wall truly believe that such a thing exists?"  "They all do," said Jon. "Ygritte said they opened a hundred graves . . . graves of kings and heroes, all over the valley of the Milkwater, but they never . . ." "Who is Ygritte?" Donal Noye asked pointedly.

 

Old Maester Aemon doesn’t believe the Horn of Winter exists. He thinks it is a legend. He’s been hanging out at the Wall for a loooong time. Aemon was even at the Wall during Br’s tenure. I gotta disagree that the war horn stash Ghost lead Jon to is the Horn of Winter or Jorman’s Horn. At this pointI don’t even know it the Horn of Winter & Jorman’s Horn are the same thing.

[The Fattest Leech]

3 hours ago, Clegane'sPup said:

I dun’t know Leech, seems that the description of the horn Jon found is a bit different. There doesn’t seem to be any mention of runes on the war horn Jon found. The one Mance had, the one Mel burned had rune markings.

 

 

A Clash of Kings Jon IV       A length of frayed rope bound the bundle together. Jon unsheathed his dagger and cut it, groped for the edges of the cloth, and pulled. The bundle turned, and its contents spilled out onto the ground, glittering dark and bright. He saw a dozen knives, leaf-shaped spearheads, numerous arrowheads. Jon picked up a dagger blade, featherlight and shiny black, hiltless. Torchlight ran along its edge, a thin orange line that spoke of razor sharpness. Dragonglass. What the maesters call obsidian. Had Ghost uncovered some ancient cache of the children of the forest, buried here for thousands of years? The Fist of the First Men was an old place, only . . .

Beneath the dragonglass was an old warhorn, made from an auroch's horn and banded in bronze. Jon shook the dirt from inside it, and a stream of arrowheads fell out. He let them fall, and pulled up a corner of the cloth the weapons had been wrapped in, rubbing it between his fingers. Good wool, thick, a double weave, damp but not rotted. It could not have been long in the ground. And it was dark. He seized a handful and pulled it close to the torch. Not dark. Black. Even before Jon stood and shook it out, he knew what he had: the black cloak of a Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch.

 

 

A Clash of Kings - Jon V      It must have been buried for a reason. He had made a dagger for Grenn as well, and another for the Lord Commander. The warhorn he had given to Sam. On closer examination the horn had proved cracked, and even after he had cleaned all the dirt out, Jon had been unable to get any sound from it. The rim was chipped as well, but Sam liked old things, even worthless old things. "Make a drinking horn out of it," Jon told him, "and every time you take a drink you'll remember how you ranged beyond the Wall, all the way to the Fist of the First Men." He gave Sam a spearhead and a dozen arrowheads as well, and passed the rest out among his other friends for luck.

 

 

A Storm of Swords - Jon VI   Mance never found the horn, though, that's something. The Horn of Winter, that's what he was digging for up along the Milkwater."     Maester Aemon paused, washcloth in hand. "The Horn of Winter is an ancient legend. Does the King-beyond-the-Wall truly believe that such a thing exists?"  "They all do," said Jon. "Ygritte said they opened a hundred graves . . . graves of kings and heroes, all over the valley of the Milkwater, but they never . . ." "Who is Ygritte?" Donal Noye asked pointedly.

 

 

Old Maester Aemon doesn’t believe the Horn of Winter exists. He thinks it is a legend. He’s been hanging out at the Wall for a loooong time. Aemon was even at the Wall during Br’s tenure. I gotta disagree that the war horn stash Ghost lead Jon to is the Horn of Winter or Jorman’s Horn. At this pointI don’t even know it the Horn of Winter & Jorman’s Horn are the same thing.

Yeah, I just double checked AFFC because I thought it was Sam that described the runes on it, but Sam was describing the runes of something else that the First Men left behind. The other descriptives I made are still the same- color, horn, metal type, condition. That is what I get for posting before coffee...again I should seriously know better by now.

Yes, the one horn that Mance has does describe runes but that one Tormund pretty much admitted was fake because they found it in a giant's grave. I don't think those giants are the giants from earth because we already have seen giants. The reason I think this one is not the horn is that it looks absurd. It's like 10 feet long and black and gold (not a northern metal) and it does have runes... but it is too ornamented I believe. Remember Indiana Jones and the Goblet of Fire Holy Grail in the Last Crusade??? The grail was not one of the fancy ones, but common and plain and "not made out of gold". NOT saying George is copying this, just using the idea of hiding in plain sight.

Jon is correct, Mance never found the horn because (I believe) Jon did. You know nothing Jonny Boy

I love me some M Aemon, just like I love me some M Luwin, but maesters in general are trained to not believe in any "magics" (the Valyrian steel maester's link is looked down upon), and that these northern tales are essentially kids stories. Luwin tells Bran that the CotF don't exist anymore... and I think we readers know the truth of that one now. There is a whole long reason for why the maesters are so averse to the Old Gods, and it has to do with money (surprise!) and the shyte "Good" Queen Alysanne and King Jaeherys did to oppress the north and their religion/magic/natural order stuffs. So that said, I don't think Luwin or Aemon are trying to be purposely malicious, they are just repeating what the were trained.

Do you think Jon found just a broken horn with the NW cloak and dragonglass? I know there have been many threads on this topic already, but I am just curious your thoughts. I'm not dead set that just blowing the horn will just bring down the wall just to bring it down, but something else happens first that then makes the wall come down.

I agree totally that there is a strong chance that the two horns are different. If not, then I guess it goes along the lines of a variant of the same term like King in the North/ King of Winter???

And what did this Mance Horn do, if anything???

And good point to whoever it was upthread that pointed out Euron has a gooood chance of going to Oldtown, maybe the Citadel, and if he finds that horn... look out because he will get another Pate to blow the sonic whoopie cushion just to see what happens.

[Maester of Valyria]

22 hours ago, Lady Fishbiscuit said:

Yep, I'm with you on this one.  

There have been numerous mentions of geothermal activity either side of the wall (Winterfell and Hardhome) and there's a massive gorge at the western end of the wall. I think things like earthquakes and volcanic activity would have been attributed to giant underground gods in the first men days. I also think the same is true for the drowned god. Not sure how a horn would cause it but maybe the horn is also metaphorical?

While the gorge may have been caused by a river, I agree with you about pretty much everything else. The horn I'm thinking is either metaphorical or is some way of accessing some of the Children of the Forest's power - they seem to have at least some control over geological events.

[cgrav]

The "spearhead and a dozen arrowheads" is a clear Last Hero reference, so I'm quite inclined to think Sam's horn is very ancient. It also sets up Sam for that heroic role.

Correlating the horn with the "Mythical Astronomy" symbols...

black, cracked horn = burnt, cracked moon 

bronze band = eclipse halo

Obsidian arrow/spearheads = fiery meteors

silent = choked or cut neck (CoTF)

and the preceding paragraph is chock full of references to Jon as Azor Ahai wielding a dark V steel sword ("...SHINY BLACK, hiltless. Torchlight ran along its edge..."). This is basically a reenactment of the original long night, which was closely bound up with the AA/NN sacrifice: ancient hero causes a global calamity and discovers fire/blood magic in the process. It's also speculated that the Last Hero was AA's son, which works perfectly with Jon being set up as a father figure to Sam.

Given all these symbols, and Jon's agency in unearthing them, I'm gonna say that the horn has some important purpose in initiating or ending the Long Night, and it did/does so with a lot more than bringing down the wall.

 

[Little Scribe of Naath]

I'm with @The Fattest Leech on this one, Sam of Horn Hill has the horn of Winter with him - very simply because I can't think of any reason for that broken horn to exist in the first place in the story otherwise. However, the Norse mythology parallels really strengthen this idea.

Question here is - whoever left the cache at the Fist of the First Men also left a spearhead, obsidian arrows and daggers. Now Obsidian is useful against the Others, we know........but why then leave a horn which would break the ultimate protection that the Wall provides against them, and render the realm vulnerable? Did the person who left it there know what that horn was for, were they leaving it with benevolent or malevolent intentions?

[ShimShim]

2 minutes ago, Little Scribe of Naath said:

Question here is - whoever left the cache at the Fist of the First Men also left a spearhead, obsidian arrows and daggers. Now Obsidian is useful against the Others, we know........but why then leave a horn which would break the ultimate protection that the Wall provides against them, and render the realm vulnerable? Did the person who left it there know what that horn was for, were they leaving it with benevolent or malevolent intentions?

If I remember correctly, Jon or someone else says that the cloak covering the stash wasn't very old, not falling apart. So, the things must have been placed there somewhat recently. Now, I have a feeling that Benjen, might have had a feeling that maybe there was more out there far north other than wildlings, and might be one of the people who visited the castle black library, reading about the past, about dealings with the children and dragonglass. I suspect that Benjen might have been the one that left the dragonglass stash (where he got it, i have no idea)....Now whether the horn he left is actually the horn of winter and if he new what it was, i doubt that. But if he did, did he hide it in a place he new maybe a black brother would find it? Did he not suspect it might have been found by wildlings? Those are my questions. 

[The Fattest Leech]

45 minutes ago, ShimShim said:

If I remember correctly, Jon or someone else says that the cloak covering the stash wasn't very old, not falling apart. So, the things must have been placed there somewhat recently. Now, I have a feeling that Benjen, might have had a feeling that maybe there was more out there far north other than wildlings, and might be one of the people who visited the castle black library, reading about the past, about dealings with the children and dragonglass. I suspect that Benjen might have been the one that left the dragonglass stash

There is a lot of speculation that Benjen did bury it there. I hold pretty strongly to that option, but I know there could be a hole or two in it, such as Benjen supposedly torched his path on a different route than what he was suspected to take (or something like that) @Macgregor of the North can explain it better than I can.

45 minutes ago, ShimShim said:

 

(where he got it, i have no idea)....

Well, it is pretty clear that the bundle was put there is haste... which is where I think Benjen did it quickly because he was being hunted because he stole it from someone or found it and the Others knew he had it, maybe he had contact with a CotF??? Just speculating the reasons where. 

45 minutes ago, ShimShim said:

Now whether the horn he left is actually the horn of winter and if he new what it was, i doubt that. But if he did, did he hide it in a place he new maybe a black brother would find it?

If you remember, Ghost was acting really funny and not listening to Jon, but instead was Lassie-leading Jon to the bundle. Basically, the Old Gods brought Jon to the cache.

45 minutes ago, ShimShim said:

Did he not suspect it might have been found by wildlings? Those are my questions. 

Probably not thinking about it, or knew the risk but had to make that hasty decision anyway. Hopefully we will know why by the end of TWOW

[HoboJed]

I would definitely say Sam's horn is very special. Why would someone go through so much trouble to hide a cache of obsidian? It's useful against the others, for sure, but it is not so rare that a small cache is worth protecting. So why was there obsidian in the bundle, then? To protect the horn from the Others.

It's quite possible that the obsidian not only prevented the Others from touching the horn (they could always use wights to remove the obsidian, after all), but also from being able to sense its presence. Is it a coincidence that after the horn was removed from its protection, that the largest known attack of Others against humans happened relatively shortly afterwards? Were they trying to wipe out the Watch, or were they trying to get the horn? They seemed to be particularly interested in following Sam, who held the horn.

And if the Others want the horn, then it must do one of the following:

• Do something that greatly advances the cause of the Others (bring down the wall, bind ice dragons, etc)
• Do something that will greatly harm the causes of the Others (rebuild the wall, end the long night, etc)

[Clegane'sPup]

On 11/15/2016 at 7:19 PM, The Fattest Leech said:

Do you think Jon found just a broken horn with the NW cloak and dragonglass? I know there have been many threads on this topic already, but I am just curious your thoughts. I'm not dead set that just blowing the horn will just bring down the wall just to bring it down, but something else happens first that then makes the wall come down.

While reading the books the first time I was still questioning what happened to First Ranger Benjen Stark.  This sequence where Ghost does not want to enter the, what is it called, the ring wall of the fist was rather a bell ringer. Ghost later leads Jon to this buried stash.

The wording of the quotes I provided were important. Rhetoric aside, I personally think that the war horn Jon found via Ghost was just a war horn like the war horn carried by many of the rangers who went out exploring.

The question in my mind is who put the stash there.  That stash becomes important later when I discover that dragonglass kills Others.

I have no, absolutely none, nada, idea where Martin is taking this story. To me it is like making chicken soup from scratch. Throw the chicken and veggies into a pot, then add a pinch of this, a dash of that and wait to see what cooks up.

To clarify, no, I do not think the war horn Jon found is important. No, I do not think that that war horn Jon found and gave to Sam shatters the Wall. I personally think that it was a vessel that contained items that supplied the NW with an awaking. As in dragonglass is important against the Others and that the wildings are not the enemy.  Which turns out to be true considering the battle and aftermath hat took place on the Fist.

As far as the people of Westeros are concerned the CotF died a gazillion years ago. As to the Others, the people of Westeros have no idea what is potentially coming their way. If indeed the Others actually do get on the south side of the Wall.

Also take into consideration that I do not think that that frekking ice wall will come crumbling down. That little war horn Jon found, the cracked one, made no sound when he blew it. The Wall did not crumble. So, I gotta ask myself that when Sam Tarley of Horn Hill is way down south at the Citadel and he seeks out someone to get this war horn repaired so that he can blow through it will the sound or vibrations carry all the way to the Wall?

[Macgregor of the North]

I had a wee tag from @The Fattest Leech on the Benjen/horn topic so I had a look at the big thread we were all discussing I started a while back and I had left a compacted version of my thoughts in the thread that I'll place below if it helps this thread at all. Sorry, I have no input really on whether the horn actually brings the Wall down or raises giants from the ground. But I do indeed think it's important. Here's the passage I left from my thread:

For what it's worth I'm gonna leave a shortened version of my thoughts on Ben so if we ever get answers I'm gonna look back on this thread. 

Waymar Royce, Gared and Will Ranged North into the haunted forest hard on the track of Wildling Raiders. They passed Crasters keep before going missing further and deeper into the forest. 

Benjen Stark and six other brothers left the Wall in search of Waymar Royce and Will, also possibly for other Rangers lost in recent rangings.

Before reaching as far North as Crasters keep Ben finds out the Wildlings are massing in the west of the Milkwater. He may have found out with direct word from a wildling from one of the villages that lie before Crasters keep, or he could have seen for himself all the Wildlings from those villages heading west and decided to follow their trail to find out their purpose. 
It is not clear at this point if Ben knows they are searching for the horn of Winter or just massing their forces together in one area for a potential offensive against the Wall. 

While Ben heads west, deviating from his mission to find missing Rangers, he sends the rest of his Rangers on seperate missions possibly. To inform Mormont and co back at the wall of the Wildlings actions. And he may have also sent Rangers to continue the original mission to find missing Rangers. We know Othor and Jafer are killed, the other four are unaccounted for.

Ben heads into the mountains North west of the milkwater leaving trail blazes a certain amount of the way. He surveys the Wildling masses, finds out they are searching for something. The horn of Winter. Resolves to find it before they do, with help or guidance I am not sure. He finds it but either meets danger or anticipates danger is headed his way and then proceeds to strike east again to stash the cache which holds the horn and Dragonglass weaponry in his own cloak on the slopes of the fist of the first men for the NW to find and keep safe and out of the hands of people who may use it against them, if the horn even has those capabilities. A safety measure as you will, one which he may have risked his own life to take. 

Benjen Starks status/whereabouts are currently unknown. 

This is one way things could have played out, not saying it's what happened and I'm certainly open to different possibilities but I'll keep this here to look back on if/when more answers appear in the books. 

 

[aryagonnakill#2]

23 hours ago, HoboJed said:

I would definitely say Sam's horn is very special. Why would someone go through so much trouble to hide a cache of obsidian? It's useful against the others, for sure, but it is not so rare that a small cache is worth protecting. So why was there obsidian in the bundle, then? To protect the horn from the Others.

It's quite possible that the obsidian not only prevented the Others from touching the horn (they could always use wights to remove the obsidian, after all), but also from being able to sense its presence. Is it a coincidence that after the horn was removed from its protection, that the largest known attack of Others against humans happened relatively shortly afterwards? Were they trying to wipe out the Watch, or were they trying to get the horn? They seemed to be particularly interested in following Sam, who held the horn.

And if the Others want the horn, then it must do one of the following:

• Do something that greatly advances the cause of the Others (bring down the wall, bind ice dragons, etc)
• Do something that will greatly harm the causes of the Others (rebuild the wall, end the long night, etc)

I like the speculation that the obsidian was protecting the horn from the Others, but I have to disagree that they were particularly interested in following Sam.  Sam was the last one in their column, he is naturally the person the Others would come upon first.  But if the horn was their real mission, wouldn't more than 1 WW have come after them? I mean Wymer got attacked by 7.

[HoboJed]

47 minutes ago, aryagonnakill#2 said:

I like the speculation that the obsidian was protecting the horn from the Others, but I have to disagree that they were particularly interested in following Sam.  Sam was the last one in their column, he is naturally the person the Others would come upon first.  But if the horn was their real mission, wouldn't more than 1 WW have come after them? I mean Wymer got attacked by 7.

I agree that Sam being attacked during the retreat isn't a strong hint that he was being singled out (he was, as you say, at the rear). However, as far as we know, Craster's Keep was not attacked by the Others/wights after the mutiny. What we do know, however, is that Sam and Gilly were attacked by wights after fleeing much further South. You may think this is a coincidence, but the wights don't seem to wander around aimlessly, and they weren't there when Sam and Gilly stopped to rest. Why no Others in sight? Sam is quite possibly the only living human to kill an Other, so it makes sense they would be cautious around him.

As for Wymer, that seems like it was a planned trap. Here, they seem to be chasing after their target. Mass attack out of nowhere at the Fist. Then a long chase towards Craster's. And finally the wight attack.

It's quite possible I'm incorrect, but I like to think the Other's actions have more reasoning than just "kill! kill! kill!"

[Macgregor of the North]

On ‎17‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 2:28 PM, HoboJed said:

Were they trying to wipe out the Watch, or were they trying to get the horn?

Cool thoughts and interesting but i have to agree with @aryagonnakill#2.

In regards to the passage of yours i have quoted i still lean to the idea the Others are trying to wipe out the NW, not get the horn.

Right from the go with the Prologue we are basically screamed at by GRRM to take note of Waymars lordly garb and how the Others take their chance to move on him with decent back up. I believe the Others thought they had possibly came upon the Lord Commander of the NW who was in possesion of the same weapon that wiped out many of their kind thousands of years before in the long night. It turns out he was just a green lad of course but the Others jumped at the chance to wipe him out, thinking he was possiblty the Lord commander himself. 

Then they set up the mission to send Othor and Jafer in as Wights to kill high rankers including the first ranger and Lord commander. They succeeded in killing the first ranger Jaremy rykker but we know LC Mormont survived. This, i believe is GRRM showing us yet more Others tactics to seriously diminish the NW by showing Mormont as the target and first ranger rykker among the dead.

Then we have the attack at the fist. Clearly an attempt by the Others to wipe out the assembled NW army.

I do think there is more to the Others and they have purpose and are not just some demonic force of pure evil etc etc. but in regards to the NW, they are in the Others way and its a primary objective of the Others to erase them.

[Tini]

On ‎17‎.‎11‎.‎2016 at 3:28 PM, HoboJed said:

I would definitely say Sam's horn is very special. Why would someone go through so much trouble to hide a cache of obsidian? It's useful against the others, for sure, but it is not so rare that a small cache is worth protecting. So why was there obsidian in the bundle, then? To protect the horn from the Others.

It's quite possible that the obsidian not only prevented the Others from touching the horn (they could always use wights to remove the obsidian, after all), but also from being able to sense its presence. Is it a coincidence that after the horn was removed from its protection, that the largest known attack of Others against humans happened relatively shortly afterwards? Were they trying to wipe out the Watch, or were they trying to get the horn? They seemed to be particularly interested in following Sam, who held the horn.

And if the Others want the horn, then it must do one of the following:

• Do something that greatly advances the cause of the Others (bring down the wall, bind ice dragons, etc)
• Do something that will greatly harm the causes of the Others (rebuild the wall, end the long night, etc)

The horn may be something different: it may just be one of the horns the Others use for communication.

Just because Jon cannot hear it doesn't say that the horn is actually broken and makes no sound. The Others may be able to hear it quite well over long distances. Whoever placed the horn there may have observed how the Others used it for communication. He may have hidden it with the intention to study it more closely later on. Even if it doesn't destroy the Others outright (or bring down the Wall), it could be used to set traps for them.

 

[aryagonnakill#2]

34 minutes ago, HoboJed said:

I agree that Sam being attacked during the retreat isn't a strong hint that he was being singled out (he was, as you say, at the rear). However, as far as we know, Craster's Keep was not attacked by the Others/wights after the mutiny. What we do know, however, is that Sam and Gilly were attacked by wights after fleeing much further South. You may think this is a coincidence, but the wights don't seem to wander around aimlessly, and they weren't there when Sam and Gilly stopped to rest. Why no Others in sight? Sam is quite possibly the only living human to kill an Other, so it makes sense they would be cautious around him.

As for Wymer, that seems like it was a planned trap. Here, they seem to be chasing after their target. Mass attack out of nowhere at the Fist. Then a long chase towards Craster's. And finally the wight attack.

It's quite possible I'm incorrect, but I like to think the Other's actions have more reasoning than just "kill! kill! kill!"

It's possible, but the same situation applies to Sam & Gilly as it did to Sam being at the back of the line leaving the fist.  Sam and Gilly are alone and vulnerable, and seemingly moving much slower than the other rangers who continued on to Castle Black.

We also cannot ignore the baby.  Gilly is convinced that is what they are after, and given how they appear to have a deal for the babies that seems like a logical conclusion to make.  

Old Nan once said that the WW's feed their undead armies with the blood of babes.  I personally do not think the babies are turned into WW's, I think they are sacrifices to raise the dead.  This would jive with Old Nans statement, and the often repeated line, "only death can pay for life"  It's the same thing MMD did to Drago.  Only the WW's then skinchange the dead after they raise them.

[Little Scribe of Naath]

Liking the speculation in this thread.

The Others clearly have intelligence and strategy, if nothing else. They send Othor and Jaffer Trojan-horse style into Castle Black to kill Mormont. They attack the wildlings just enough to drive the whole lot of them south - possibly to weaken the NW. The Fist of the First Men was also a clever operation -  they had a sizeable number of NW men in one place whom they tried to take unawares. They certainly aren't mindless zombies, for sure.

[hitman47]

HORN OF WINTER TOUCHED BY THE HAND OF GOD

[Clegane'sPup]

This is the way it goes down.

 

Sam and his cracked war horn that makes no sound is at the Citadel. Sam spends years studying at the Citadel to learn to be a Maester so he can return to the Wall to be the NW new Maester.

Sometime in WoW Sam seeks out a war horn repair person.

After the battle at the crofters village. After Jon is healed or resurrected. After the retaking of WF. After Dany arrives in Westeros. After KL burns.. Sam the Maester, heads back to the Wall via ship to East Watch.

Once he arrives at Eastwatch he runs into Davos who has Osha, Rickon & Shaggy in tow. Bran may or may not be stuck in the cave.  It’s really snowing hard now. Winter has come. Maester Sam, Davos, Osha, Rickon and Shaggy have the NW escort them to CB.

Maester Sam gets so excited at his return to CB that he reaches into is carry bag, pulls out the repaired war horn and toots it. Boom the Wall shatters.

The Others and their minions storm CB. Jon being AA reborn fights and defeats the Nights King thereby becoming TPTwP. Except that the thing that is living in the land of always winter has not yet shown itself.

At the end of WoW but before a DoS, Dany and Aegon hearing of this, ride their dragons to the Wall. There they meet his huge frekking ice dragon who does not breathe fire but breathes breathe so cold that it sucks the air out of the atmosphere.

Warm blooded fire breathing dragons fall from the sky, dead. The Others created by the COtF over take Westeros. The world is frozen now. The Other magic is prevalent. The wights continue to kill and the Other magic continues to reanimate the dead.

All hope is not lost though. Spring starts to sprout. The Others don’t like warmth or daylight. They retreat back to the land of always winter. Arya and Gendry emerge from their hidey hole with a tiny little Stark Barathon child and rebuilding begins anew.

If there is any doubt, yes, I am being facetious, or flippant or tongue-in-cheek or playful. If the war horn that Jon found and gave to Sam brings down that ice wall please do come back and say, “I told you.”

[aryagonnakill#2]

1 hour ago, Clegane'sPup said:

This is the way it goes down.

 

Sam and his cracked war horn that makes no sound is at the Citadel. Sam spends years studying at the Citadel to learn to be a Maester so he can return to the Wall to be the NW new Maester.

Sometime in WoW Sam seeks out a war horn repair person.

After the battle at the crofters village. After Jon is healed or resurrected. After the retaking of WF. After Dany arrives in Westeros. After KL burns.. Sam the Maester, heads back to the Wall via ship to East Watch.

Once he arrives at Eastwatch he runs into Davos who has Osha, Rickon & Shaggy in tow. Bran may or may not be stuck in the cave.  It’s really snowing hard now. Winter has come. Maester Sam, Davos, Osha, Rickon and Shaggy have the NW escort them to CB.

Maester Sam gets so excited at his return to CB that he reaches into is carry bag, pulls out the repaired war horn and toots it. Boom the Wall shatters.

The Others and their minions storm CB. Jon being AA reborn fights and defeats the Nights King thereby becoming TPTwP. Except that the thing that is living in the land of always winter has not yet shown itself.

At the end of WoW but before a DoS, Dany and Aegon hearing of this, ride their dragons to the Wall. There they meet his huge frekking ice dragon who does not breathe fire but breathes breathe so cold that it sucks the air out of the atmosphere.

Warm blooded fire breathing dragons fall from the sky, dead. The Others created by the COtF over take Westeros. The world is frozen now. The Other magic is prevalent. The wights continue to kill and the Other magic continues to reanimate the dead.

All hope is not lost though. Spring starts to sprout. The Others don’t like warmth or daylight. They retreat back to the land of always winter. Arya and Gendry emerge from their hidey hole with a tiny little Stark Barathon child and rebuilding begins anew.

If there is any doubt, yes, I am being facetious, or flippant or tongue-in-cheek or playful. If the war horn that Jon found and gave to Sam brings down that ice wall please do come back and say, “I told you.”

It's funny, this has nothing to do with your post, which as you say is entirely a joke anyway, but it made me realize, why the hell did Sam send them to Eastwatch, and not Shadow Tower?  Do they not have a single ship on the west coast?  That seems highly unlikely.

Edited for spelling